


Of Mutants and Men

by phoenix123



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, BAMF Tony Stark, Discrimination, Gen, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Identity Porn, M/M, Mutants, Secret Identity, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-24 12:26:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14954679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenix123/pseuds/phoenix123
Summary: In a world where humans are seen as inferior to mutants, Iron Man is a vigilante technopath.Right?





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Consider this my attempt to get back into writing :) 
> 
> I'm not sure if I'll ever get back to Behold, the Conqueror -- I'm not overly fond of my writing in it (not that this will be any better lol), but I was thinking of writing more chapters for it.
> 
> Nonetheless, I hope y'all enjoy this story, and comments/kudos/offers to beta are always welcome!

_STARK INDUSTRIES ANNOUNCES POLICY CHANGES_

_Tahani Griffiths (H), July 20 th, 2008_

_After debuting the StarkPhone X just last weekend, Fortune 500 company Stark Industries has now rolled out a new set of infrastructure changes. Amendments to the current SI policy include new hiring methods, ensured equal wage, and increased opportunities for proposals to be heard by supervisors, among others. Many have praised the updates as a step in the right direction towards ending the mutant-human divide still present in America, a cause that human CEO Tony Stark strongly supports._

_“I’m an equal-opportunist kind of guy, I’d say,” Stark winked as he announced the news during an impromptu press conference._

_Tony Stark’s success in becoming the first human to ever own a major corporation, much less a Fortune 500 company, was seen as a decisive victory for the human rights movement. To this day, Stark Industries continues to promote mutant-human equality through the Maria Stark Foundation, its Stark Internship Program, and now, it seems, more company-wide policy changes._

_  
_

\----------------

  


When Maria Stark was rushed to the hospital on a cold December night in 1971, water broken, the doctors immediately prepared for a violent birth. It wasn’t standard procedure – labor wards didn’t need much protection from most newborn children, who were born with omega, occasionally beta-level mutations. But everyone knew that the child of two parents with alpha-level mutations would have to come out accompanied by flickering lights, sudden fires, or something of the sort.

As Howard Stark arrived and wordlessly helped his wife up into the birthing chair, the medical staff set about prepping the room. It was off-white, bright, and slightly outdated – a far deal less than what the Starks could afford, but the contractions had taken both Howard and Maria by surprise. He had been in his office at Stark Industries and her at a nearby park when she had frantically called him from a nearby telephone booth, and they had agreed to meet at the hospital closest to the two of them. That was how the Starks, arguably one of the most influential and powerful couples in the world, ended up at the St. Gregory Community Hospital in lower Manhattan instead of the lavish, high-tech place that Howard had planned to attend, with Maria about to give birth.

But when the newest Stark came into the world for the first time, gently placed in the arms of his mother, there wasn’t a single change in his surroundings. No crackle of electricity, no floating objects, nothing to indicate that the newborn had any known alpha-level mutations. The lack of interference with the room’s instruments meant he hadn’t inherited his father’s technopathy, and his mother could sense he wasn’t an empath like her. Neither did he possess any obvious physical mutations, despite looking as distressed as a newborn baby could be.

Howard and Maria kept their hopes up – perhaps their son had a less-noticeable mutation. After all, many children were born with mutations they simply didn’t have the skills to use yet. Things like enhanced eyesight or an ability to understand all languages were all rendered useless by the infancy of a newborn brain. But a quick blood test performed by the doctor quickly dashed their hopes for the crying, squirming bundle in Maria’s arms.

Tony Stark was irrevocably, undeniably, 100% human.


	2. Chapter Two

_Excerpt from ‘A Brief History of the Modern World: Volume 2’, by Horace Solomon (M):_

_In the early 1500s, mankind was exposed to the Terrigen mist. The Terrigen mist was an entity that originated in the mountains of Attilan, long used by the Inhuman tribes that populated the area to give themselves evolutionary advantages through unique alterations of their DNA. Although the Inhumans were an isolated group, a containment breach caused by inner fighting released the Terrigen mist, allowing it to travel around the entire world before dissipating into the atmosphere. Much of mankind transformed as the mist infused their DNA with the X-gene – it is estimated that around 90% of humans at that time became mutants, emerging from the chrysalises of their metamorphosis a new, better species._

_As the X-gene propagated through reproduction, those without it suffered. Humans became second-class citizens, generally looked down upon for being unable to perform the same feats that mutants could. Over the ages, humans were traditionally used as hard laborers, farmers, foot soldiers, or, in many countries, slaves. It wasn’t until the late 1900s that human rights became more prominent – by that point, slavery had been abolished in all countries, and human rights movements coalesced into solid organizations. As of now, humans enjoy the same rights and responsibilities as mutants do._

 

\-----------------------

 

Tony is five years old, sprawled across the colorful carpet in the middle of his room. Around him lie the scattered pieces of an old digital clock, while at his feet is a rudimentary circuit board. His tongue sticks out of his mouth at an angle, brown eyes narrowed in concentration as his small fingers attach one more tiny copper wire to the board and – yes! His circuit board is complete.

Scrambling up, he carefully gathers the device in his arms and runs to find Jarvis, who ends up being in the kitchen. Jarvis is finishing the last of the morning’s dishes when he hears Tony’s small footsteps on the cold tile, and turns away from the sink to face him.

“And what do we have here, young Sir?”

“A circuit board,” Tony replies shyly, holding the tech up so Jarvis can see it. Ever so gently, Jarvis takes the board and examines it, running his fingers along the meticulously-placed copper wires, the tiny servos, and the miniature LED lights that Tony had scavenged from his dismantled clock. Of course, Jarvis has no idea what he’s looking at – like most other humans, his education was limited to rudimentary math and English. But what Jarvis _does_ know is the intense fondness and pride he feels for his young charge, who is currently staring up at him in anticipation.

“I’d love to hear more about it,” he says, “Why don’t we go down to the library so you can explain it to me?” Tony nods eagerly. “You go on then, young Sir - I shall tidy up very quickly and then join you.”

Excited to share his knowledge with Jarvis, Tony makes his way out the kitchen door, down the stairs, and through the west wing hallway to the library. But when he pushes open the ornately-carved oak doors, he finds that he is not alone.

“What do you want, boy?” slurs Howard from one of the armchairs.

Tony looks at the ground, shuffling his feet for a moment before mumbling, “I was going to show Jarvis my cir-circuit board.”

Howard hmphs, and sets down the glass in his hand on the side table before holding his hand out. “Let me see it.”

Like Jarvis, Howard spends a few moments inspecting the device. But after his inspection is done, instead of gentle inquiry or praise, he throws the board as hard as he can onto the ground. The sound of breaking glass and snapped plastic shatter the quiet of the library.

“Worthless,” he says, as Tony’s eyes fill with tears.

Silent and authoritative have devolved into demeaning and abusive over time, qualities reflected in the hard eyes staring at the smashed remains of Tony’s circuit board. It doesn’t help that Howard’s on his third tumbler of whiskey that night either, burdened by his doomed search for the lost Captain America, or that his own _human_ son has just proven himself smarter than his father. Technopathy is a useful skill for an inventor, but is, like most mutations, limited by the strength of the wielder’s mind.

“Don’t cry,” Howard sneers. “Stark men are mutants made of iron. But I guess you’re not really a Stark man, now are you?”

Too distraught to do anything but, Tony runs right out of the library and right into Jarvis, who kneels down to get a better look at Tony’s face before hugging him tightly. “What happened?”

“I went in to the libr-rary and Daddy was there and he asked to see my cirkw-circuit board so I gave it to him _and then he sma-ashed it!_ And-and-and then he said I wasn’t a Stark because I wasn’t a mutant,” Tony sniffles into Jarvis’s shoulder. “W-why doesn’t he want me?”

Jarvis says nothing, not wanting to burden the boy he sees as his own son with the world’s hard truths, and merely pulls him closer.


End file.
